Star profile
72 Cygni
What is 72 Cygni
72 Cygni burns some 232 light-years away as an orange K-type giant within Cygnus, the swan flying along the summer Milky Way. Its outer envelope, swollen and cooled after exhausting core hydrogen, gives it that characteristic amber tone. The constellation is crossed by the Great Rift of galactic dust, against which this star stands out like a warm ember. Its light departed around 1793.
Where it is and when to see it
72 Cygni lies in the northern celestial hemisphere. It is visible to the naked eye under a dark sky. Its best month of the year is September, when it culminates around midnight.
- From London it never sets and culminates about 77° up.
- From New York it culminates about 88° above the horizon.
- From Sydney it culminates about 18° above the horizon.
It can be seen from anywhere north of 51° S.
It ranks no. 36 in brightness among the 137 stars of Cygnus in our catalogue. To find it, start from Deneb, the brightest: it lies about 12° away (a fist at arm's length covers about 10°).
The light you see today left it about 230 years ago.
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Astronomical data for 72 Cygni
- Constellation
- Cygnus
- Apparent magnitude
- 4.87
- Distance
- 231.5 light years
- Coordinates (J2000)
- RA 323.694° · Dec 38.534°
- Catalogue
- HIP 106551 · HD 205512
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Other stars in Cygnus
Cygnus has 137 stars in Stelvia's catalogue. Here are a few of them.
- DenebAlpha Cygni1.25
- SadrGamma Cygni2.23
- AljanahEpsilon Cygni2.48
- 57 Cygni4.80
- 30 Cygni4.80
- 55 Cygni4.81
- 15 Cygni4.89
- Psi Cygni4.91